Walking in Kent

Guidebook for the best walking routes in Kent, as well as recently discovered routes in all corners of the county. There’s plenty to appeal to both family strollers and determined ramblers, and each route has been rewalked by the author and carefully revised.

For the purposes of this book, Kent has been divided into two sections – West Kent and the Weald, and North and East Kent – with the M20 corridor effectively carrying the line of division (see the ‘Location of Walks’ map).

Within the main body of this guide, sections of the Ordnance Survey map relevant to each walk described are taken from the 1:50,000 series (1⁄in = 1 mile), which should be adequate to provide an overview of the route. However, greater detail and a wider perspective may be gained from consultation with the Explorer series of maps published at a scale of 1:25,000 (2fiin = 1 mile). The recommended sheet for each walk is noted in the panel at the head of that walk’s description and include map numbers:

123, 124, 125
133, 135, 136, 137, 138
145, 146, 147, 148, 149
150, 162, 163

Grid references are frequently quoted to enable you to locate a given position on the OS map, each sheet of which is divided into a series of vertical and horizontal lines to create a grid (the British National Grid). Each of these lines is given a number which is quoted at the top, bottom and sides of the sheet, with numbers increasing from left to right for the vertical lines (known as ‘eastings’), and from bottom to top for horizontal lines (‘northings’).

To identify an exact point on the map from a given grid reference, take the first two digits from the six-figure number quoted. These refer to the ‘eastings’ line on the OS map. The third digit is estimated in tenths of the square when moving to the right from that line. Next, take the fourth and fifth digits referring to the ‘northings’ line, and then the final digit estimating the number of tenths of the square reading up the sheet.